Bellakatra
by Loveless Kitten
Summary: Seven years after Levy left, leaving a broken Gajeel in the dust, a runaway kid appears claiming to be the broken hearted man's child. What will happen when Gajeel and Levy reunite and will their child ever have the family she's dreamed about for years? Rated M for language and possible lemons and adult themes. Mostly GaLe, but others slip from the woodwork.
1. A Secret Exposed

Chapter One

 **AN: Okay, so I know I said I would update Dance Through the Pain, Wild Angel and To Kiss a Wolf as soon as I finished Saving Levy, but I hit a road block with S.L. So since my main Fanfic is on hold and the others are all needing updated, I can feel the pressure building up on me. I had a new idea so I'm gonna run with it for a while. Read and review or don't. This one's purely for fun and cause the idea makes my heart heavy with joy.**

 **-o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o-**

Seven years. Seven long and lonely years had passed since the day she walked away, her shadow fading from the door way as if erasing her very existence from his life. Her old stuffed cat lay abandoned in her favorite chair by the window. The long dead bouquet of roses turning to dust on her book covered desk. The letter she wrote lay untouched on the desk.

 _'Dear Gajeel,_

 _It's been three years since we started seeing each other, two since we began living together, and I can no longer stay like this. We have fought constantly, out walls filled with holes and our furniture in crumbles. We tried to make it work, I know we love each other and I know we'll meet again, but I have decided to leave. I'm going to move to the town my mother was born in. Forgive me._

 _Love forever,_

 _Levy McGarden_

 _P.S. Please do not try to find me or contact me.'_

And with that, she was gone. Seven years had passed and she never wrote or returned. Seven years and the house looked exactly the way she had left it when she walked out their door that cold, rainy day. The house had been left abandoned, Gajeel paying the bills from his apartment in the center of town, to await her return.

Big red eyes flashed from left to right as the small blue haired girl peered into the dusty darkness of the small two bedroom house her parents once lived in years ago. A sparkle of light from the floor caught the six year old's attention. Stooping down just enough to snag the small item from the dust, Bellakatra stared at the small diamond ring in her hand. Tears filled her eyes as she slowly turned to leave the long forgotten home.

 **-o0o0o0o0o0o0o-**

Meredy laughed as she ran down the street, her long term boyfriend, Rogue, chasing after her. The small pinkette turned to peer over her shoulder at the raven haired man behind her. His smile made his heart falter as she sped through the quiet sun filled streets. She turned the corner heading towards their apartment, when suddenly a small child ran out in front of her. Meredy slid to a stop, slamming into the child and sending them both toppling to the ground. The child yelped, trying to get away, but Meredy's hand closed on her small wrist.

"Hey! What's the rush?"

"Run!" The child yelled, trying to break free again.

"What?" Meredy pulled on the child's arm trying to keep her nearby.

"Meredy watch out!" Rogue's voice filled the air as a big black animal barreled towards the pinkette and the child. Rushing forward, rogue's foot collided with the face of the wild canine sending it flying back down the alley with a yelp. "Grab the kid and run!"

Gajeel had just emerged from his apartment door when the yells of his young brother hit his ears. His coffee cup fell to the ground as he rushed down the street towards the commotion. Her turned a corner to find the eighteen year old and his girl fighting off a large black wolf. The beast slammed its jaw shut on Rogue's shoulder, causing the teen to cry out in pain as his girlfriend screamed, but stayed back. Even though Gajeel found it strange that the usually feisty woman was docile and distant during the attack, he didn't have time to question it as he rushed past her into the fray.

His body slammed into that of the creature sending them airborne, rolling across the sidewalk moments later. Pain filled his body as it met the concrete full speed, but he pushed himself up from the ground to rush the beast a second time, pinning it to the ground. His large hand clasped tightly around the wolf's snout and slammed it's head into the hardness under them. He struggled with the creature for a few more minutes before a plastic covered metal cord wrapped around the animal's throat. Animal Control had appeared.

Getting up from the ground, Gajeel watched as the town's animal control officers wrestled the wolf into a cage. As he dusted off his jeans, he turned back to his little brother as the EMTs cleaned and dressed his wounds. Rogue looked as tired as Gajeel felt as the older boy went to sit next to him.

"What in the name of Mavis were ya thinking wrestling with a wild beast like that?" Gajeel scolded.

"Didn't have a choice. Running wasn't an option."

"Why's that?" Gajeel asked as Rogue turned to look at the pink haired beauty behind him.

"Kat wouldn't have been able to keep up and carrying her would have weighed us down." Meredy piped up.

"Who the fuck is Kat?" Gajeel growled whirling around to face the girl.

A small child squirmed in the pinkette's arms. Her blue locks fell over the girl's arm like a river to pool around the child's waist. Scrapes covered the kid's legs and a bite, most likely from the wolf, dripped blood onto the sidewalk from the child's arm. She almost reminded him of Wendy, Meredy's cousin, but her hair was lighter. A familiar light blue, one that brought forth an image of a girl who haunted his dreams. Levy.

The child whimpered turning her head to peer up at him. Gajeel felt his heart stop as he stared into the child's face. Her soft skin, the gentle curve of her jaw, her nose, and the way her eyebrows furrowed as she looked at him, perfect copies of the face he missed so much. But it was her eyes that gave him pause. As her cheeks puffed out in a perfect impression of Levy's scowl, his red eyes stared back at him from the face of a child. The small child smiled a sharp toothed grin identical to his own and reached for him.

"Daddy!" a child like version of Levy's melodic voice rang in the man's ears as he stared at the miniature version of his ex mixed with a few features he knew so well from his bathroom mirror.

Gajeel took the child from Meredy so the girl could help Rogue with his shirt. He stared down at the child, wondering what to say to her, when the pinkette suddenly asked, "Kat, what do you mean Daddy?"

"I found him. This is my daddy. I've been looking for him for days!" The child smiled.

"I ain't yer dad. I can't be." Gajeel grunted looking away.

"Baby, where's your mom?" Rogue asked the kid.

"At home." she said looking at him.

"Where's home?"

"732 North West Tenrou Street, Crocus," the girl's answer was well rehearsed so she could remember it in case she got lost.

"Rogue, get the truck. Her mother must be worried sick if she's been gone days." Gajeel sighed. "Oi, kid, how did ya get to Magnolia from Crocus?"

"Walked." The three adults stared at the child. She couldn't have walked. Crocus was twenty three miles from Magnolia. There were acres of forest between the two towns, no set path, the child would have gotten lost, starved, or been attacked by a wild animal.

Gajeel looked around him. They stood just blocks from the house had shared with Levy all those years ago. He stared down the alley in front of them, a direct line from the house to where they stood. A sudden chill ran over his spine as he looked back towards the girl.

"Kat, where were ya heading when ya left to find yer dad?"

"613 East Iron Street, Magnolia," another well memorized address. One that belonged to the same house Gajeel still paid for but avoided

"Can ya read, kid?"

"Mommy taught me to read my books."

"Can ya read addresses and street signs?"

"Oh, no."

"How were you going to find your dad or the house?" Meredy asked.

The child reached into her pocket and pulled out a photo. In the photo an older, brown eyed version of the little girl stood grinning outside of a small house. In her arms was a small stuffed kitten with a key wrapped around its neck, but it was the man in the back ground that made everyone gasp. Gajeel's face smirked back at them. His face glowed with youth and joy. It was a copy of the photo Levy took the day they bought the house.

"Where did ya get this?" Gajeel asked.

"Mommy gave it to me. See it says so in the back," the girl flipped the picture over so he could read the back of it.

 _'My sweetest Bellakatra,_

 _This is the only picture I have of your father. We spent three happy years together, two of which were spent inside this house. Gajeel Redfox was and will always be the only man your mama will have ever loved. I wish I could have stayed. I wish I would have known about you before I walked out of that door and left him behind. I know your daddy would have loved you. Maybe one day you'll meet him._

 _Love Mommy.'_

The note to the little girl made Gajeel see red. He knew Levy meant well by not telling him about him daughter after they broke up, but damn it, she should have told him. Suddenly, Gajeel had an idea. He felt his lips curl into a sharp grin. Rogue and Meredy backed up as they took in his evil grin.

"Rogue, get the truck."

- **-o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o-**

Levy sat on the edge of the hospital bed crying into the shoulder of her best friend, Jet. Droy, Jet's boyfriend, stood in the doorway to Levy's hospital room talking to the police. It had been two weeks since Kat went missing and Levy couldn't stand the fact that she couldn't go look for her baby girl.

 _Levy sat in the office of Dr. Mirajane Strauss to discuss her treatment options. The white haired beauty of a doctor had left to check on her blood work, leaving the blunette alone to think of the man she left behind. When Levy had gotten the news that she had a tumor growing in her heart, she knew she couldn't put Gajeel through that. She chose to leave. Now she sat here waiting to find out what they could do to cure it._

 _Dr. Mira walked back into the office looking upset. Levy looked at the floor expecting the worst. "Well, Miss McGarden, we won't be able to start any treatments for about eight to nine months, I'm afraid."_

" _What, Why?" Levy looked up at the kind hearted woman questioningly._

" _Well,if we start now, it'll harm that little bundle of joy growing inside you."_

" _I'm pregnant?"_

" _'Fraid so."_

Since the day Levy had heard she was pregnant, she had regretted not telling Gajeel what was going on. Now her precious six year old daughter had vanished just as the end of her second battle with the cancer was in sight. Chemotherapy had left her bald and weak as she begun preparations for surgery. This time, she was going to have a heart transplant to rid her body of the cancerous cells. The donor heart had arrived that morning and she had limited time to do the surgery before the heart was sent to the next person on the list.

"Levy, you have to go through with it. We'll find her, but you need your health to do that." Jet whispered, his breath tickling her bare head.

"I know. I just hope she's safe."

"I'm sure she is." They sat in silence for a moment, until the door opened causing them to turn around.

In the doorway stood four figures. A small, pink haired woman who looked to be in her late teens stood holding hands with a tall, dark haired man with deep red eyes. Behind them stood a mountainous man covered in piercings with the same dark hair and red eyes as the young man before him, but it was the sleeping blunette in his arms that caught Levy's attention.

"Bellakatra," she whispered, getting to her feet.

Gajeel stared, broken hearted at his one true love. Levy was paler than ever before, her eyes sunk in and tired looking. Her nose was red from crying and her body slimmer. She wore a light mint green hospital gown and had a bright orange scarf wrapped around her head. As she took a step towards them, Gajeel noticed Jet, her long time friend, rush towards her in time to steady her as she lost her balance. It was clear to everyone that Levy was very sick.

"Oi, Shrimp," Gajeel's voice startled the sick blunette into looking up at him. "Get yer ass back in that bed before I take my daughter and leave."

"Gajeel," Levy breathed as Jet lifted her from her feet and gently set her back down on her bed.

"So this is why ya ran. Ya were sick and didn't trust me to look out for ya?" Gajeel looked out the window of the room, out into a court yard, where he could see a pink haired burn victim told jokes to a paralyzed blonde as she wrote in her journal.

"Gajeel, it wasn't like that! I had to move to Crocus for treatment and I couldn't ask you to leave the life you built for yourself just to watch these treatments either save me or kill me!"

"THE LIFE I BUILT FOR US!" the man suddenly yelled, waking the sleeping child in his arms. As Kat began to cry, Gajeel sighed, "Jet, Rogue take Kat to the park for a while. Her mom and I need to talk. Meredy there's a twenty in the glove compartment of the truck. Make sure she gets something healthy to eat and a juice to drink."

The men took the little girl and quickly exited the room, followed by Meredy. Levy sat with her arms wrapped around her legs, tears in her eyes. Gajeel sighed and sat down beside her on the bed.

"How could ya think I wanted that life without ya in it?"

"It was your dream, Gajeel."

"And I told ya, a musician is only as good as his muse. I haven't been able to write any new songs without ya by my side, Shrimp. I've been working for Makarov again, teaching the orphans to play guitar."

"I'm so sorry, Gajeel. I should have told you."

"Ya should have told me a lot of things."

 **-o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o-**

 **AN: If I promise Levy won't die will you let me live?**


	2. Meet the Morons

Chapter Two

 **AN: Sorry its been a while, but I promise I'll update sooner, or at least try to. Anyways, here's chapter two.**

 **-o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o-**

Levy sat on her hospital bed, watching her daughter sleep in her father's arms. The small six year old seemed so much smaller when placed against Gajeel's largeness. Her soft snores sang harmony with the mountainous man's rough ones. A kitten's purr dancing with a train wreck. A smile stretched across the blunette's face as her heart filled with love a moment before sorrow ripped through her chest. One day her little wild card would have to stay with her iron dragon of a daddy permanently if the treatments didn't work. Heart broken, Levy curled into a ball on her hospital bed, tears filling her eyes.

"Shrimp?" Levy hadn't realized her sobs had escaped her mouth and woken the mountainous man across the room. "Oi, Shrimp don't cry. Let's go for a walk. Kat will be fine. Droy and Jet are still here."

"Gajeel, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to wake you," the blunette whimpered.

A sudden warmth spread through Levy's arm as the raven haired man reached out to help her stand up. Still weak from the treatment a few hours ago, her petite frame rested unsteadily against his firm body. She could feel his strength. Gajeel could snap her arm in two just as easily as he could gently caress her palm with his finger tips. His large muscular arm wrapped around her waist, leaving a trail of blazing heat across her skin, keeping her steady as they began to walk.

The two made their way out into the hospital's garden. The large three mile square was tucked into the center of the health care facility, it's diverse plant life and peaceful trails gave the patients a safe, calming area to walk, exercise, and rebuild their strength. Designed by the hospital's founder in the late nineteenth century, the garden held nine different tree species, ten beautiful breeds of flowers, and eight different types of bushes. Two different footpaths wove their way through the plant life to intersect in the middle in front of the marble statue of the founder's three young daughters, Blain, Kitatia, and Xerianna.

The statue stood in the center of a large coy fish pond. Lily pads dotted the pond's surface as the three marble girls stood in a perpetual state of play. Blain appeared to be the tallest and oldest of the girls. Her stone body forever frozen in the form of a young teenage beauty. She stood in the center laughing as she played an acoustic guitar. Her young frame was cloaked in a beautiful marble dress that flowed from her body to the earth in stone waves of silk. Her sister, Kitatia, sat among a patch of rock flowers, weaving the never dying blossoms into a flower crown. She wore a similar dress to her older sister and appeared to be around ten years of age. Her gracefully carved mouth lay open as if the child were singing, trapped for eternity mid verse. The youngest of the three, Xerianna, appeared to be gently cradling a small stone kitten within her slim, glossy white arms as she spun in a dance of joy to the sound of her sister's guitar.

Gajeel and Levy walked silently up to the statue, watching the moonlight dance across the marble skin of the three playful girls. The small blunette panted as she wiped an all too thin hand across her forehead, removing a sheen layer of sweat. Her weakened body, exhausted from the leisurely walk, slid onto a bench that rested beside the pond as her large hazel eyes met Gajeel's crimson gaze. The raven haired man sighed as he knelt before the sickly woman.

"Levy, be honest with me, I deserve that much," the man's voice shook with emotion. "What have the doctors told ya?"

"I had a tumor in my heart that was left untreated for the nine months I was pregnant with Kat. The tumor had all but taken over my heart by the time I gave birth to her. I was rushed into surgery a month later for a heart transplant," Levy took a deep breath. Her eyes filled with tears as her hands began to shake. "By then the cancer had spread to my lungs and I had started chemotherapy. By the time Kat was two I had beat the cancer. I fell ill again about a year ago and came back for answers only to find out my cancer was back. I have a small tumor in my left lung. It was too large at the time to be removed safely so I began chemo treatments again. The tumor is small enough now to be removed safely through surgery. I go in next week to have it removed. Once the tumor has been extracted, I'll have to remain here for about a week or two to recover and have a check up, then I can go home."

"I guess I should call Makarov in the morning and tell him to find another guitar teacher for the orphans." Gajeel lifted Levy's hand to his mouth and placed a gentle kiss over her knuckles. "I'll head back to Magnolia in a couple days to get some fresh clothes. Tomorrow, Jet, Droy and I will head over to your place and get things ready there for when ya get released."

"Gajeel, no, you don't need to do that. I'm not your problem to deal with. Just take Kat with you so I know she's safe. I'll come get her when I'm strong enough to take care of her." Levy looked away. Staring up at the stars, the young mother fought off her tears as pain filled her soul. She wanted to tell Gajeel to stay, to beg him to take her back, to go home to the house they shared years ago in Magnolia, but she couldn't. He wouldn't allow it.

" Levy McGarden, I told you ten years ago when you were sixteen that I'd never love another and I meant it. I wanted to married ya. I bought ya a house and gave ya a child ya hid from me. Ya left me alone and broken for seven long years and I've missed ya, Shrimp. I want my woman back. I want my child home with me every night. I want to dust off my leather jacket, boots, and faithful guitar and get back into writing and releasing music. Now stop your whining and kiss me," Gajeel ran a finger over the tiny woman's lips as he spoke, lowering him lips to hover just above her's.

Levy lifted her head slightly to press her lips against the man's, tasting him mouth with a vigor she hadn't realized she'd had. The sweetness of mint mingled together with an oddly metallic flavor to overpower her senses and remind her of the very first time they shared a kiss. A gentle moan slid from her soft lips as she drifted into the old memory.

 _Sixteen year old Levy McGarden sat beneath an old weeping willow tree reading Sherrilyn Kenyon's Bad Moon Rising. She had just got to the part where Aimee agreed to help Fang track down and kill each one of the Daimons who had stolen a piece of his soul to free him from the coma like hell the were-hunter was trapped in when a shadow blocked the sun from view. Glancing up from the pages of her story, the blunette met the gaze of her long time crush, the dark and mysterious, eighteen year old bad boy, Gajeel Redfox. A gentle blush dusted her pale cheeks. What had brought him here?_

" _Hello, Gajeel. Is there something you need?" Her voice drifted on the breeze, anxious but warm._

 _The large man shook his head, dropping down to sit beside her. Silent as the dancing grass the older teen lifted the book from the tiny girl's hands, slipping the photo of Levy's parents into the pages to hold her place once again. "Shrimp, I got something I want to ask ya."_

" _Sure, what's up?"_

" _We've known each other for years, right? I mean we've sat next to each other in classes before and we walk home together a lot. We've been neighbors for years and I was there the night you lost your family. I guess we weren't close but I think we're friends, right," the boy's face a deep red, he cleared his voice. "I'm failing here, Shrimp. Maybe I should go." He moved to stand._

" _Gajeel, stay." Levy caught hold of the red eyed boy's arm and gently pulled him back down beside her. "What was your question?"_

" _Levy, will ya be my girl?" Gajeel's cheeks flamed as he finished the question._

" _Are you asking me out?"_

" _Yes, Shrimp, I am."_

" _Of course I will, ya big lug." Joy replaced the redness of his face as Gajeel stood, swinging Levy up into the air, her yellow sundress fluttering in the breeze. As he set the girl back on the ground, Gajeel had lowered his lips to hers. Mint and metal mixed with the sweet taste of sugar cookies and jolly ranchers as the teens explored each others mouth._

Levy broke free from the kiss, coming up for air. A smile stretched across her reddened lips as a peaceful glaze coated her hazel gaze. Her heart hammered, wild and hopeful, in her chest. Suddenly, the future didn't look so dark.

-o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o-

Gajeel came awake to a sudden screech, blinking rapidly to clear the sleep out of his eyes. Peering around the hospital room, the man tried to place what was causing the ear splitting noise echoing around the room. Levy lay upon her bed, holding their daughter as the two blunettes looked up at him, clearly startled by the sudden noise as well. A book lay open on her leg, forgotten for the moment. Beside the bed, a tray of half eaten breakfast grew colder by the second. Jet and Droy sat cuddled together on the hospital room couch, rubbing sleep from their half open eyes while Meredy, nested in a pile of blankets on the floor, slept on, music blaring from the headphones perched in her ears.

Suddenly, the door opened, revealing an annoyed looking Rogue. "Some idiots got into a fight in the cafeteria. The nurse hit the panic button to call for help breaking them up. Apparently, there was some faulty wiring which caused a short in the alarm system resulting in the screeching we are all hearing now."

"Was it a loud mouthed pink haired man and an icy black headed guy?" Droy grumbled.

"Yea. The pink haired guy was a burn victim and the other looked like he'd been trapped in a freezer for a few days."

"The burn moron is Natsu Dragneel, he lit a meth lab on fire a month ago. He got caught up in the resulting blast and burnt about seventy percent of his body. The moron he was fighting with is Gray Fullbuster. His brother, Lyon, lost his mind in a jealous rage when the woman he was obsessing over fell in love with Gray instead of him and locked the couple in the freezer of the restaurant the brothers owned together. An employee opening the place two days later opened the freezer and found them half frozen inside." Jet informed the group. "Natsu and Gray have never gotten along."

An explosion sounded from the hall, rattling the walls and shattering the window to the left of Levy and Kat. The terrified child screamed as glass rained over her and her mother. A thick red liquid trickled from the girl's forehead causing Levy to gasp. A shard of the shattered window had rebounded off the heart monitor under the now nonexistent window, picking up speed, and embedded itself in the six year old's face. Gajeel saw red as his child began to scream.

At six foot eight, Gajeel was a wall of solid muscle and a pool of rage. He barreled from the room into the hallway just in time to see the pink haired burn patient leap at the frost bitten, half dressed man in front of him. The remains of a pressurized oxygen tank lay scattered across the floor and planted haphazardly into the crumbling walls. Nurses and doctors rushed into rooms of patients trying to calm and treat those injured during the explosion. Orderlies rushed the two brawling men, trying to force them apart, only to end up an unconscious pile of flesh littering the ground. Gajeel rushed the mess of limbs delivering blow by blow to the attached bodies, knocking the two involved into the ground. He grabbed a fist full of pink then wrapped his fingers around a chunk of black, heaving both battered and panting fighters to their feet. With a rage filled growl he drug both bodies, kicking and screaming, into Levy's room where his tiny daughter continued to cry out in pain and fear. Upon seeing the frightened child both men became calm and ashamed of their actions, choosing to face the floor rather than meet the eyes of the young child injured by their foolishness.

"Ya got three seconds to make my child smile before I bury yer asses." Gajeel's eyes burned holes into the men as they contemplated his threat.

Gray made his way to kneel before the child. "Hey there, little one, are you okay?" The man's voice shook with shame.

Kat shook her head, sending small droplets of blood everywhere. She was perched on the table beside her mothers bed while Jet and Droy attempted to extract the still weak Levy from the glass filled bed. Meredy and Rogue were busy searching the room for bandages and alcohol pads they could use to patch up the injuries sustained during the chaos.

"What happened to your head, sweetie? Were you hurt when we were fighting outside?" Kat nodded.

"Here let me see if I can get that taken care of," Gray said as he reached into his pocket.

The man pulled out a small first aid kit. Opening it, he extracted an alcohol pad, some tweezers, and a couple band-aids. The band-aids had small cartoon characters on them that made Kat smile. Gray placed the items on the table beside the child and sighed. He picked up her small stuffed teddy bear from the floor and handed it to the blue haired girl. "Sorry, kiddo but this is going to hurt. I have to do it though or you could get really sick. We don't want that, do we?"

Kat shook her head, "So it's like a shot?"

"Yea, like a shot, but this is gonna hurt a bit more then a shot. I'm gonna have to remove the glass, clean the cut and then you can pick a band-aid to put over it, okay?" Gray smiled at the girl. "Ready?"

"Yes." Kat hugged the small stuffed animal to her chest.

Gray picked up the tweezers, gently gripped the glass shard and pulled it free from the girl's flesh. Kat didn't cry out or move, making the process easier and less painful. As he opened the alcohol pad, he explained to the child how the pad worked and that even though the pad was used to disinfect a wound, it would sting and hurt. Kat whimpered but never moved as he cleaned her wound.

"Okay, which band-aid do you want?"

"The Scooby-doo one, please." Kat smiled.

Gajeel nodded to Gray once the younger man was finished. The pouting pinkette next to him hadn't moved or spoke the whole time. As the frost bite patient rejoined the group the pink haired burn victim made his way over to the now smiling child. Once in front of the small child, the man bent down to her level. Kat's smile slowly disappeared as the gauze wrapped, scary looking man placed a hand on her tiny shoulder. "What's your name?"

"I'm Bellakatra, but mommy and daddy call me Kat," the small six year old said in a quiet voice.

"It's nice to meet you. My name's Natsu. How old are you, Kat?"

"Six. I like your hair." A tiny hand reached out to touch the man's hair, only to pause midway and shrink back to the girl's body. "Are you gonna hurt me?"

"No. I'm sorry you got hurt. I never meant for an innocent to get hurt. I lost my temper. Will you forgive me?"

"Will you buy me ice cream?" Kat's counter-question made Levy laugh so hard everyone turned to look at her.

"Kat, you are way too much like your father. Why don't you see if Meredy wants to go to the park?" Levy spoke making her way over to her child. "Thank you, Gray and you as well, Natsu, for calming and helping my baby while we cleaned up the glass."

"Don't ya thank those losers, Shrimp," Gajeel broke into the conversation. "They caused this mess so it's only fit they fix it. They're just lucky I don't kick they're asses for hurting my child."

"Gajeel Redfox, you have only just met Kat a few days ago. You don't know her. Don't you dare start acting like you gave birth to the girl. I'll thank whoever I want to thank for her safety and that includes you. Don't you dare pretend you were there since day one. I won't allow you to bypass my mistake like that." Levy's voice was low and dark, sending shivers down the backs of all in the room. Anger radiated from the woman as she walked, on unsteady feet, past Gajeel out of the room.

Jet moved to stand beside Gajeel, ignoring his 'get lost' glare, and clapped him on the back. "Don't sweat it, man. She's just hurting right now. She kept Kat from you and it bothers her to see how great of a father you already are. She's overcome with guilt and there's nothing she can do to fix her mistake."

"Jet, your her best friend, but if ya don't remove your arm, I will break it." Gajeel growled. "I know my girl. She did what she thought was right and I respect that. She made a decision and she stuck with it. She had no way to know I'd react like this. I could have snapped on her. I could have rejected booth my girls. I'm not mad at her for it. I understand."

"Gajeel," Meredy's voice made the men jump. The pink haired woman stood in the doorway holding an unconscious Kat. "Something's wrong."

 **-o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o-**

 **AN: Here you guys go. Sorry it's taken so long to upload. I don't have much time to write lately. Anyways, things are about to get really heated in this story. Please keep reading and reviewing. I love you all.**


	3. More to Tell

Gajeel paled at the sight of his daughter unconscious and ghost white. His heart sped up as he quickly took command over the upset room. "Jet, yer the fastest, get a doctor. Droy, ya know Levy like the back of yer hand, find her. You, pinkie and the stripper, clear off the bed, fast. Meredy, I need ya to get my medical files from the glove compartment. I'll take Kat."

The group split apart, each member bolting in different directions as soon as they were given a task. The brawlers had the bed clean in seconds, Meredy appeared to blur past them, slipping the child into her father's arms and disappearing from the room, Jet and Droy hot on her heels. Rogue blinked slowly as he stepped up to his older brother. "Think it's the same thing as you?"

"Yea. I can hope and pray not, but sadly, I know the signs. High pain tolerance, independent nature, red eyes, passing out. She's more like me than I thought." The mountainous man sighed, "bet you anything, Levy will shoot in here with a small syringe. She'll tell the doctor it's a pre-existing medical problem the child's had since she was two. I should have known."

"Gajeel!" Levy's voice came from behind the man. Turning around, his suspicions were confirmed as the blunette held a shot of swirling silver. "I—."

"Don't Lev, it's okay. I know. She inherited it from me after all." Gajeel sighed. He laid his daughter down on the bed, taking the needle gently from her mother's hands. "The neck or the arm, Shrimp?"

"Neck." Levy spoke slowly, watching with a heavy heart as Gajeel gently injected the silvery goo into his daughter's main artery. Her breath caught in her throat. Why did the ones she loved so much feel like a fading flame all of a sudden?

"Gajeel?" Natsu spoke quietly, trying not to wake the child in front of him. "What is that gunk and why does she need it?"

"Shut up, flame-brain. Can't you read the room. Now is not—" Gray started only to be cut off by Gajeel.

"It's liquid iron. My daughter, as well as myself and my brother, has a very rare disease. We have a severe iron deficiency, our bodies do not take it in from food or drink like yours, instead we have to inject it straight into our bloodlines either in our arm, if type A, like Rogue. The neck of type B. Type A, while severe and inconvenient to daily life, is not life threatening and easily manageable. Type B is the opposite. It's an unpredictable and extremely dangerous condition in which the body immediately uses up all its iron and send the patient into a coma like unconsciousness. It is fatal and barely manageable. I, as well as Bellakatra, belong to this type. I carry a fully stocked kit of liquid iron filled syringes at all times. I'm sure Levy has the same for our child. Once we get things settled down, I'll get a special set of dog tags made up for her. They'll hold her full name, date of birth, blood type and instructions on iron injections. Just like mine and Rogue's. Meredy, sadly, if you ever conceive via my brother, your kids will likely have a type of this disease. It's passed through the male genetics." Gajeel sighed. "She'll sleep it off for the next day or two, depending on the intensity of the deficiency."

"You know a lot about the Metalicana syndrome. Did you do a lot of research?" A new voice rung out, turning the attention of the room from the unconscious child to the elderly woman in a white lab coat. Her pink hair wound into a tight bun and her eyes full of what appeared to be hatred, the woman stood tall and proud beside a skittish looking Jet. "However, I am curious on how one researches such a new disease and all its qualities. There's only five documented cases in the world."

"Three of which are in this room." Gajeel sighed again. "Gajeel Redfox, this is my younger brother, Rogue, and my daughter, Bellakatra."

"Redfox? Then are you perhaps related to–."

"First documented diseased, Metalicana Redfox." Gajeel interrupted. "Yes. Metalicana was my father."

"Your family are the only known carriers of the disease. It dies when your bloodline ends." The doctor stated. "It's passed along from father to child. Your daughter is effected by it but won't pass it along to her kids. So long as you or your brother never have sons, the disease dies when your daughters do. Having said that, you are not responsible for this disease. Do not blame yourself, do not fear having sons, do not fear bringing children into this world."

"Excuse me, Doctor, but you seem to know a lot about the disease yourself," Rogue chimed in.

"My name is Porlyusica Dreyer, I'm your niece's personal physician. My grandson suffers from a unique disease himself, so I offered to take on Kat's case in an effort to save both of them." The elderly woman snapped. "Not that it's any of your business."

"Dr. Dreyer, please don't snap at my brother, he means you no trouble. We just want to keep Kat safe. That's all." Gajeel spoke, sending his brother a well aimed glare. "Ma'am, will my daughter have to inject herself for the rest of her life?"

As the boys spoke with the doctor, Levy sat holding her unconscious daughter. Her mind had begun to wander as she listened half heartedly to the conversation. Looking around the room, Levy's large brown eyes fell on Meredy's bright green ones, instantly recognizing the look of panic within them. "Meredy, sweetie, will you walk with me to the cafeteria? I'm still weak and haven't ate today. Droy, can you sit with Kat while her father talks to Porlyusica, please?"

"Yea, of course, Levy. You girls go get food. Bring me back something sweet though, okay?" Droy smiled at the tiny woman as she took the young pinkette by the arm and turned to leave.

"Meredy," Levy spoke once the girls had turned the corner, out of sight and earshot of the men in the hospital room. "What's wrong, and don't say nothing. I won't believe that."

"Oh, God, Levy, I'm scared!" The young woman whimpered, her eyes quickly filling with tears. She came to a stop as she reached a shaky hand towards her bag. The girl's hands shook harder as she tried to unzip the small, pink bag designed to look like gameboy.

Levy watched Meredy with growing concern. The women had known each other for years, Meredy being the sister of Levy and Gajeel's close friend Juvia Lockser. When Juvia and Meredy lost their parents to a car accident, Levy was only fifteen. Juvia, who was sixteen, had fought hard to gain the right to live and raise her sister on her own, working two jobs and going to school just to keep her sister with her. Levy often gave up her own paycheck to help the teen buy food or clothes for the small child. She would even babysit Meredy for free. Meredy had eventually come to see Levy as another sister as well as a best friend. The two had always been close. Levy had vanished just after the then eleven year old Rogue had come clean about his feelings for the small pinkette, leaving the child feeling betrayed and hurt. The woman never quit worrying and often missed the girl, however, regularly calling Juvia to check on not just Meredy, but the Redfox boys as well, Juvia never giving more than a vague update on health and success. "Meredy, take a deep breath and calmly open your bag. You're okay. Everything is fine. I'm right here."

The teen sighed, taking a deep breath. Slowly she opened the bag, pulling out a small white and pink stick. The older girl instantly recognized the item, quickly pulling the pinkette into a tight hug. "Levy, what do I do?"

Rogue watched, silent as a shadow, frozen in place around the corner from the two embracing women. Shortly after the two had left, Kat had woken up, having made a rather speedy recovery. Gajeel, upon seeing how scared the child looked, had sent Rogue to get Levy. The black haired boy had just turned the corner when her overheard his girlfriend telling the sickly woman that she was scared. Concerned for his love, the teen did what any worried young man would. He hid, eavesdropping on the conversation and watching from behind the wall. His heart pounding hard in his chest as Meredy pulled out the one item that scared him most right then. "Levy, what do I do?"

The simple question shocked Rogue back into his body, causing the boy to bolt back to the hospital room. He ran through the halls of the bleached white building picking up speed before slamming into the door behind which stood his big brother. Panicked and unsure what to do with the information he overheard, he grabbed the large, heavily pierced man by the arm and yanked him from the room, closing the door quickly behind them. Once out in the hall again, Rogue began to pace, running his hands through his hair and breathing heavy.

"Rogue." The boy looked up at his brother, tears in his eyes. Gajeel's deep voice was strong but gentle as he watched his young brother panic. "What's wrong?"

"What the fuck am I going to do?" Rogue fell to the ground. Gajeel raised a studded eyebrow at the boy's dramatic appearance and waited for an explanation. The teen took a deep breath, "Meredy's pregnant. I think Levy's the only one she's told. Gajeel, what do I do? What if it's a boy? What if she wants an abortion? What if the child got hurt when we were fighting off the wolf? Or during the explosion? All the stress and excitement, isn't that bad for a pregnant woman? Oh god, she carried Kat! Was it too much weight? And all the running? Oh fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck!"

"Rogue, shut up. Everything will be fine. You need to get it together. If Meredy told Levy first, she's scared. That means you need to get yer ass together so when she does tell you, you can be the strength she needs. So stop yet cryin' and man up. Yer a Redfox for fucks sake. Yer gonna be a father to that kid no matter what and yer gonna do it right. I'll be here if ya need help. But for now, wait til Meredy decides to tell you and in the mean time, take her out, spoil her rotten, and go find that girl the best ring we can afford. Yer gonna do what I never got to and marry her before that baby is born. Got it?"

"Got it. Thanks, Gajeel." Rogue said, instantly calming down. "So, who tells Mom about the kids?"

"Don't remind me. Though, I'm not as worried about telling Mom as I am about telling Wendy and Carla." Gajeel laughed as he thought about his sister. Two years younger than Rogue, sixteen year old Wendy was as sweet as she was innocent, while Carla was strict and loyal. Half of the set of twins, Wendy was the younger of the two girls and took after their father, having type A of the disease like Rogue. Carla, the older twin, took after their mother and was the only one out of the four to not have a variation of the syndrome named after their father. A kind hearted girl who dreamed of being a doctor like their mother, Grandeeney, Wendy was easily excited about things like this, while Carla would be highly disappointed in both for having kids so young, both having become fathers before their twenty first birthday, though Gajeel was only a few months shy at the time of Kat's birth. The strict looking white haired girl would disapprove even more on finding out she was an aunt six years after the birth of her niece. "You know, those three are gonna use our balls for keychains after this!"

Meredy stood shaking as Levy held her. The pink haired teen had only found out about her growing child that morning and she was three times more terrified now. She had known about the disease shared within the Redfox family since she was young, having watched Rogue inject himself almost daily. She was seven when she saw Gajeel collapse for the first time, frozen in fear as Levy plunged the swirling syringe into his neck. She knew the disease was hard to live with, but her love for Rogue made it worth it to her. Now that the life of her own child could be effected by it, her fear was almost paralyzingly strong. "Levy, what do I tell Rogue? Should I tell him? Should I even have this baby?"

"Meredina Nicole Lockser, how dare you even consider giving up on that baby before you've even considered talking to Rogue! You were there the day Gajeel found out about Kat, you remember the way he looked, how he reacted? The pain in his eyes? Do you want Rogue to go through the same? No. Of course not. You love him, right? Then I suggest you act like the woman I know you are, be the mother I know you will be, and tell that boy about his kid. Your sister did not fight for custody of you just for you to run from the same privilege of raising a child. I hurt my family by keeping Bellakatra to myself. Don't follow in my footsteps. March your ass back to that room, back to that boy, and you tell him your a mother. You give him the chance I never gave Gajeel. Now!"

"Um, yes Ma'am, but won't it look suspicious if we don't return together with food?" Meredy smiled at the woman who was more family than she realized. The pink haired teen had come to see Levy as an adoptive mother. More so than she'd seen her sister as. Juvia was always gone, at work or school, leaving Meredy to grow up under Levy's watchful eye until the blue haired girl had vanished without so much as a goodbye. The blunette had been there to help with homework, bought Meredy pads when she had her first period, explained sex, relationships, feelings, and even what having a job was like. Levy had given Meredy chores, her first job as a dog walker, her first cell phone, her first crazy hair cut, her first pet, and was there on every birthday, for every recital, for parent/teacher conferences, and more. Meredy slid her arm into Levy's and pulled the other girl down the hall to the cafeteria, grabbing a handful of sandwiches, a few slices of cake, some cookies, juice boxes and some soda.

They returned to the room to find six grown men playing make believe with a still weak Kat. The scene was enough to melt even the coldest heart. Gajeel knelt beside his daughter like a knight as Rogue places a paper crown on her tiny head. Jet lay at the foot of her bed like a watch dog while Droy attempted to juggle little foam balls as a court Jester. Natsu must have pissed the child off for he lay pretending to be dead on the floor near by as Gray knelt to the other side of the girl, clearly her favorite out of the two, as she had made him a knight like her father. Kat grinned as she looked up at her mother, "Mommy!"


End file.
